We wake up by 6 am and get a little organized , we go out the door and test our bikes, without the panniers, on a similar route to yesterdays walk in Queen Anne except just about backwards. We get our morning show​er and head out to the street to catch the #3 bus to spend the day in downtown Seattle. We ended up getting a free bus ride into the city because the bus did not take $20's - The driver could clearly see/hear we were not from the area; he told me I had a different accent and asked me where I was from. We got off the bus a couple of stops too early and had to walk into the Pikes Market area.

Wanting some breakfast and coffee, we sat across the street from a Starbucks at a coffee shop called Seattle Coffee Works, I enjoyed my cafe Americano with the 4 shots and lots of honey to sweeten. This was by far one of the best coffees I've ever had or was it just the atmosphere, the excitement of being in Seattle with Carmen and starting our tour. After breakfast we walked down to the underground at Pikes Market , but it was still early and some of the shops were not open yet. Carmen bought herself a new mini-purse to carry her valuables, such as her passport and money around her neck, from there we walked down to the lower level to the gum wall and Carmen left her mark with her calming / soothing gum.

We walked all throughout Seattle, then over to Pioneer Square, where many of the homeless and the strung out hung out. We continued our walk towards Chinatown to sight-see and I wanted to get a shaved ice similar to the one I had gotten in Houston's Chinatown. ​From there we found and walked into an Army Navy Surplus store where I was looking for a pair of comfortable shorts I could put over my bike shorts but Carmen saw matching t-shirts for us, which we could not pass on, I did not find any shorts till a few days later.

We were now pretty worn out, we had visited the old train station, walked around and saw the library where we rested for at least an hour, then back down to Pikes Market for an early dinner. We looked around for the Chowder restaurant we had been told about that was better than Ivar's, but when we got there it was already closed. I ended up getting a cup of Chowder from a food stall and Carmen walked across the hall and got herself some fish tacos and we sat by the window overlooking the Puget Sound. Very tired now , we took the bus back to Queen Anne where we had dinner waiting for us, we skipped on the dinner and sat in their back patio taking about the days events and our plans for the morning.

Carmen - Today our host family went about their day with their daily routines while we ventured out to try the bikes in Seattle. I have already seen the hills on the Uber ride to the host home and feel worried about me making it. I am encouraged by Kristine, our hostess. In her calm yet assertive way she manages to tell me and loud enough for Robert to hear - there are different roads - you do not need to ride up the big hill. There will always be different roads to take to get to your destination. The test ride allows me to get settled into the newness of the city. We then head on the bus to Pikes Market. The sight of the beautiful buckets full of flowers, the vegetables, the smell of food cooking and the people - make me think of the markets in Mexico. So similar, yet so different. I love the excitement, the bright colors that warm my heart.We walked so much today! I keep telling myself that if I had a fitbit or other measure device I could see how far I am walking. I always want to know where I am going, how am I getting there, how long will it take to get there and what will I do when I get there.Maybe I really don't need to know the number of miles....I may put a limit to how much I walk and do!Today I loved walking and being able to see the sights, to stop as we needed and to keep going when we are ready. Robert seems full of endless energy. He wishes to put as much as he can into every day. ​